Parcel of Rogues (album)
Encyclopedia
Parcel of Rogues is an album by the Electric folk
band Steeleye Span
. It was their most successful album thus far, breaking into the Top 30.
The album grew out of a theatrical project the band undertook, a version of Robert Louis Stephenson's Kidnapped
, staged in Edinburgh
. The book and play were set against the backdrop of the Scottish Jacobite
movement, and in the course of developing the play, the band came across a considerable amount of 18th century Scottish poetry that they mined for the album.
If the album has a theme, it is change and the tension between old and new. "The Weaver and the Factory Maid" is about the tension of early industrialization, with a young man celebrating the factory because there are a lot of women for him to pursue, while an old man denounces the factory because of its economic effects. The song illustrates this tension nicely by contrasting a more traditional fiddle with a more rock-style guitar. There is a very sharp contrast between the sweet acoustically-driven "The Ups and Downs" followed immediately by the funky distorted loud guitar in "Robbery with Violins". "Cam Ye O'er Frae France" explores this tension in a different way, both in its lyric denouncement of political changes and the contrast between the poem's traditional Scots dialect and its sharp electronic guitars. And "Alison Gross" is about a literal change, as an evil witch transforms a man who rejects her into a worm.
"Robbery with Violins" is better known as "The Bank of Ireland" (in O'Neill's book). A version of this tune was played in the film Titanic
. "The Ups and Downs" is also known as "The Maid of Tottenham". The satirical "Cam Ye O'er Frae France" has suffered the same fate as Shakespeare's work: the biting references to King George and his mistresses ("riding on a Goosie") that everyone understood at the time can now sound nonsensical to anyone who doesn't know the history. Maddy sings the rolled "r"s for all they are worth. Two of the songs on this album originate in Hogg's Jacobite Reliques
, while "Rogues in a Nation" is a Robert Burns
poem denouncing the Act of Union
in 1707 that united England
and Scotland
. The title of the album derives from a line in the song "Rogues in a Nation", here sung a cappella. The sleeve shows a milkmaid on decorated tiles. This might be related to the fact that it was recorded in "Sound Techniques" studio, a former dairy, which still has a statue of a cow on the wall.
The album uses more overdubbing than any previous album by Steeleye Span. On "Hares on the Mountain" there are two channels for Peter Knight's mandolin
s, two for recorders and one for him playing harmonium
. On "The Weaver and the Factory Maid" Maddy Prior
is heard on three channels, counterpointing herself at the top of her voice.
The album saw the band re-introduce the use of drums, driven in part by Rick Kemp
's background in rock. After the album was released, the band undertook a US tour, opening for Jethro Tull
. Because of this, the band decided to add a full-time drummer in the person of Nigel Pegrum
. The drums took the band further in the direction of rock, as demonstrated by "The Wee Wee Man" and "Cam Ye O'er Frae France."
Electric folk
Electric folk is the name given to the form of folk rock pioneered in England from the late 1960s, and most significant in the 1970s, which then was taken up and developed in the surrounding Celtic cultures of Brittany, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Man, to produce Celtic rock and its...
band Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span are an English folk-rock band, formed in 1969 and remaining active today. Along with Fairport Convention they are amongst the best known acts of the British folk revival, and were among the most commercially successful, thanks to their hit singles "Gaudete" and "All Around My Hat"....
. It was their most successful album thus far, breaking into the Top 30.
The album grew out of a theatrical project the band undertook, a version of Robert Louis Stephenson's Kidnapped
Kidnapped (novel)
Kidnapped is a historical fiction adventure novel by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. Written as a "boys' novel" and first published in the magazine Young Folks from May to July 1886, the novel has attracted the praise and admiration of writers as diverse as Henry James, Jorge Luis...
, staged in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. The book and play were set against the backdrop of the Scottish Jacobite
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
movement, and in the course of developing the play, the band came across a considerable amount of 18th century Scottish poetry that they mined for the album.
If the album has a theme, it is change and the tension between old and new. "The Weaver and the Factory Maid" is about the tension of early industrialization, with a young man celebrating the factory because there are a lot of women for him to pursue, while an old man denounces the factory because of its economic effects. The song illustrates this tension nicely by contrasting a more traditional fiddle with a more rock-style guitar. There is a very sharp contrast between the sweet acoustically-driven "The Ups and Downs" followed immediately by the funky distorted loud guitar in "Robbery with Violins". "Cam Ye O'er Frae France" explores this tension in a different way, both in its lyric denouncement of political changes and the contrast between the poem's traditional Scots dialect and its sharp electronic guitars. And "Alison Gross" is about a literal change, as an evil witch transforms a man who rejects her into a worm.
"Robbery with Violins" is better known as "The Bank of Ireland" (in O'Neill's book). A version of this tune was played in the film Titanic
Titanic (1997 film)
Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...
. "The Ups and Downs" is also known as "The Maid of Tottenham". The satirical "Cam Ye O'er Frae France" has suffered the same fate as Shakespeare's work: the biting references to King George and his mistresses ("riding on a Goosie") that everyone understood at the time can now sound nonsensical to anyone who doesn't know the history. Maddy sings the rolled "r"s for all they are worth. Two of the songs on this album originate in Hogg's Jacobite Reliques
Jacobite Reliques
Hogg's Jacobite Reliques is a collection of songs related to the Jacobite risings, compiled by James Hogg on commission from the Highland Society of London in 1817. Most of the songs in the collection are Jacobite, and a minority are Whig...
, while "Rogues in a Nation" is a Robert Burns
Robert Burns
Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
poem denouncing the Act of Union
Acts of Union 1707
The Acts of Union were two Parliamentary Acts - the Union with Scotland Act passed in 1706 by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act passed in 1707 by the Parliament of Scotland - which put into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union that had been agreed on 22 July 1706,...
in 1707 that united England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The title of the album derives from a line in the song "Rogues in a Nation", here sung a cappella. The sleeve shows a milkmaid on decorated tiles. This might be related to the fact that it was recorded in "Sound Techniques" studio, a former dairy, which still has a statue of a cow on the wall.
The album uses more overdubbing than any previous album by Steeleye Span. On "Hares on the Mountain" there are two channels for Peter Knight's mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
s, two for recorders and one for him playing harmonium
Harmonium
A harmonium is a free-standing keyboard instrument similar to a reed organ. Sound is produced by air being blown through sets of free reeds, resulting in a sound similar to that of an accordion...
. On "The Weaver and the Factory Maid" Maddy Prior
Maddy Prior
Maddy Prior is an English folk singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span.-Early life:...
is heard on three channels, counterpointing herself at the top of her voice.
The album saw the band re-introduce the use of drums, driven in part by Rick Kemp
Rick Kemp
Rick Kemp is an English bass player, songwriter, vocalist and record producer, best known for his work with the pioneering electric folk band, Steeleye Span.-Projects:...
's background in rock. After the album was released, the band undertook a US tour, opening for Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull (band)
Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...
. Because of this, the band decided to add a full-time drummer in the person of Nigel Pegrum
Nigel Pegrum
Nigel Pegrum was a drummer with The Small Faces and Steeleye Span before becoming a producer.- Biography :Nigel Pegrum played drums with an early line-up of The Small Faces, then played drums with Lee Grant And The Capitols before joining Spice, who subsequently changed their name to Uriah Heep...
. The drums took the band further in the direction of rock, as demonstrated by "The Wee Wee Man" and "Cam Ye O'er Frae France."
Track listing
- "One Misty Moisty Morning" (Traditional) – 3.30
- "Alison GrossAllison Gross"Allison Gross" is a traditional ballad, catalogued as Child Ballad #35. It tells the story of "the ugliest witch in the north country" who tries to persuade a man to become her lover and then punishes him by a transformation.-Synopsis:Allison Gross, a hideous witch, tries to bribe the narrator to...
" (Traditional) – 5.29 - "The Bold Poachers" (Traditional) – 4.18
- "The Ups And Downs" (Traditional) – 2.45
- "Robbery with Violins" (Traditional) – 1.47
- "The Wee Wee ManThe Wee Wee Man"The Wee Wee Man" is Child ballad number 38, existing in several variants.-Synopsis:The narrator meets with a wee, wee man. He lifts an enormous stone and throws it, and she thinks that if she were as strong as Wallace, she could have lifted it to her knee...
" (Traditional) – 4.01 - "The Weaver and The Factory Maid" (Traditional) – 5.21
- "Rogues in a NationSuch a Parcel of Rogues in a NationSuch a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation is a Scottish folk song whose lyrics are taken from an eponymous Robert Burns poem of 1791. It derides those members of the Parliament of Scotland who signed the Act of Union with England in 1707, comparing their treachery to the country with the tradition of...
" (Robert Burns) – 4.34 - "Cam Ye O'er Frae France" (Traditional) – 2.49
- "Hares on The Mountain" (Traditional) – 4.33
Personnel
- Maddy PriorMaddy PriorMaddy Prior is an English folk singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span.-Early life:...
- vocals - Tim HartTim HartTim Hart was an English folk singer and multi-instrumentalist, best known as a founding member of electric folk band, Steeleye Span.-Early years:...
- vocals, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, appalachian dulcimerAppalachian dulcimerThe Appalachian dulcimer is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings. It is native to the Appalachian region of the United States... - Bob JohnsonBob Johnson (musician)Robert "Bob" Johnson is a British guitarist formerly in the electric folk band Steeleye Span from 1972–77 and again from 1980-2001....
- vocals, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Rick KempRick KempRick Kemp is an English bass player, songwriter, vocalist and record producer, best known for his work with the pioneering electric folk band, Steeleye Span.-Projects:...
- bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Peter Knight - violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
, mandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, recorderRecorderThe recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
, harmoniumHarmoniumA harmonium is a free-standing keyboard instrument similar to a reed organ. Sound is produced by air being blown through sets of free reeds, resulting in a sound similar to that of an accordion...